Don’t let your toys blow up in your face
Ever buy an expensive product only to be surprised at how much accessories for it cost? (This happens a lot with consumer electronics.) Ever find yourself tempted to save some money by going with third-party equivalents instead of their brand-name counterparts? Yeah?
Don’t.
You may be able to get away with it for some things, but where electronics are concerned, you’re more likely to get burned--perhaps literally.
I spent this afternoon translating documents related to cases where people have (sometimes unwittingly) purchased third-party substitutes for the brand-name accessories their electronic products require and found out the hard way that the “savings” ended up costing more in the long run--a lot more. In some cases, this “cost” amounted to nothing more than embarrassment for the user, but in others it ranged from irreversible damage to the product itself to loss of other property that just happened to be nearby when something went wrong. This goes without mentioning the possibility of injury, which is the ultimate misfortune.
When purchasing electronics, bear in mind that only the manufacturer really knows the internal workings of the product in question--and only that manufacturer is in a position to make accessories that will work reliably with that product. The makers of no-brand “equivalents” or imitations can guess, but do you really want to trust your precision electronics to some unaffiliated party’s guesswork?
Also, consider the fact that no-name makers are just as likely to knowingly sell unsafe products as safe ones, knowing that they will be difficult to track down in the event of an accident (in which case the user is likely to approach the maker of the main product--which will probably not be at all liable for the damages caused by another company’s products--before, or even instead of, considering other options).
Manufacturers, on the other hand, have an obvious vested interest in making sure your accessories work safely and seamlessly with the products you purchased them for. In most cases, the manufacturer will only guarantee the operation of your product if you use the accessories its recommends. Use anything else and you’re on your own.
Play it safe. Always buy the recommended, brand-name accessories for your electronics. If necessary, factor the cost of accessories into the total purchase price before you buy, so you are not hit with sticker shock when you see how much the extras cost. The prices you see might seem higher than those of similar, supposedly compatible products, but the difference in the knock-off products’ prices is often accounted for by the absence of safety features your product requires.
Be smart. Don’t let your toys blow up in your face.
This has been a (generalized) public service announcement from your friendly neighborhood corporate translation cog. The opinions and values reflected herein should not be construed as those of anyone other than the author. Your mileage may vary.
